Newport County v Crawley Town: A Football League first for the bottom two

29 September 2015

Alex Butcher

Newport County and Crawley Town meet in Sky Bet League 2 on Tuesday night in what will be the first Football League fixture between the pair.

And the maiden meeting is an important one, with the duo currently occupying the two relegation places in the division. The Exiles are bottom despite picking up their first win of the season last time out, while Crawley are one point and one place better off after nine games.

Terry Butcher's charges finally picked up maximum points on Saturday with victory over Carlisle United, but Crawley have just one goal and one point from their past five matches - and they've lost the last four.

The two clubs have locked horns previously, with the most recent match-up coming in a 2013/14 Johnstone's Paint Trophy clash when the Welsh side ran out 3-2 winners on the road.

Prior to that, all the matches came back in the pair's non-league days, and Crawley have cause for optimism due to a strong record at Newport over the years.

In seven visits, the Reds have won four, drawn two and lost just one - a 3-1 defeat back in 2000. All of Crawley's wins at County have been by a one-goal margin however, so history suggests a tight affair ahead of tonight's basement battle.

Can one of these sides lift themselves outside of the Sky Bet League 2 relegation zone this evening? You can find out by following our Twitter coverage, via @SkyBetLeague2.